Today I lost my precious Hillary. She broke her leg last night and we had to have her put down. As you know she was 14 years old almost to the day, at least to the day of coming home with us from Warrenton. Gary Michael and I went and picked her up...he was 8. We brought her and Jefferson to Dr. Bruce for shots and the establishment of their files. During her 14 years she has been quite the trooper, right up to the end. She was stolen when she was around 9 months old during hunting season, but after relentless searching and talking to hunters in Mine Mt. we found her....some men with DC tags had her and fully intended to take her with them. I remember her leaping from the trailer into my arms and me yelling for Gary to come on...I think he may have hurt those men if I hadn't said LETS GO! A couple years later she contacted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and was terribly ill....I remember staying up with her as she fought it off ... she was on high doses of antibiotics and laying in that awful yellow chair that we had from the Redmonds....But she won her battle only to get stronger. A few years after that she was down in the woods not far from the house and must have dug around a hive of bees...yellow jackets maybe...and they covered her entire body...Gary heard her screaming and went and swept them from her and rushed her to a vet in Edinburg and she was given a shot to counteract the effects of all the venom. Once again she rallied; such a trooper she was. I wasn't home for that trauma. Another time she came home bleeding from a cut on her leg...a gash really. Kelly and I had to rush her to Seven Bends and have her stitched up. She always knew to come home for the love and medical attention that was hers unconditionally. And she gave us many years of love...always unconditional love. Many times she came home with sticks stuck in the roof of her mouth from being a digger dog... and it took forceps to remove them...and she was the trooper during our surgical procedures....She developed incontinence as she aged and I know that affected her dignity, but we worked with her and kept her as clean as we could....On her last day she ate dinner and had played out front with the other dogs, Lita, Lucy, Bubba and Bandit...and when coming in she fell...she was getting uneasy on her feet and the hard wood floors were not easy for her to manage when excited. But she got right back up and continues to play. I was at work at Starbucks. Gary said around 9:30 p.m. she was trying to get up and suddenly screamed out in awful pain...she must have broken the bone then...although it was probably compromised from her age and arthritis. Gary said that both Bandit and Lita tried to attack her...not sure what that was about, but when it happened he had been sweeping the floor and shooed them away with the broom. He got her comfortable with an aspirin and I slept with her on the floor all night. She was very restless and slept little if any. But she didn't even so much as moan in discomfort even though the break was so severe. Like I said, a trooper right to the end. I was letting her know all night that it wasn't good...that we loved her but she may be heading to heaven soon. Letting go of such a wonderful and sweet dog is the worst pain....but the memories are so precious. I can still hear her barking at the dog across the way. She got loose and went over to his fence not long ago and I had to chase her back. She came when she realized that I meant business....her bark will fade from my memory probably, but right now I can hear it strong and clear. She had been waking up the last few nights prior to last night and I would put her out to pee, but now I think that she knew it was coming. Dogs are insightful like that, I so wish that I had the sense to know what she knew. I will also remember her yapping bark..yap/ruff...yap/ruff...snapping her jaw and dancing around...playing with Lita. And I will probably always remember when she would lie on her back with all four legs in the air...she was so comfy in that position. So many wonderful memories....she was my baby girl...and my love for her is endless. RIP Hilly Billy....you were loved and always be loved...you touched so many...Enjoy your freedom from pain and incontinence and the restoration of your dignity and health...join in the laughter and playing with your brothers and sisters and know that I will be there with you when my time comes to an end...I will see all of my babies....you will be leading the pack. Blessed Be. Thanks Goddess for welcoming her home.